For Eternity
by LordofFullmetal
Summary: Ok, so this is a fanfic that I adopted from another writer. Edward Elric has a dark secret, but will those he cares about ever discover it? And what will they do? Rated for violence, gore, sexual themes and coarse language. DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA, or the original idea of this story. Plot line rights go to AlchemyFreak0218 and Hiromu Arakawa. All OCs are mine. Do not use.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Hey Ed, you sure you're ok?" Edward Elric glanced lazily up at the speaker from his lounging position on the couch. His golden eyes met hers for a moment, and he arched an eyebrow at Winry – who currently stood with her hands on her hips and her familiar, 'I'm concerned about you so I'm going to pretend to be mad' expression.  
"Of course," he replied, strangely flatly, "Why wouldn't I be?"  
Winry frowned, before deciding to try something. Smirking cheekily, she straddled the blonde boy, aware of the fact that she was wearing a miniskirt.  
Nothing. No reaction. Winry bit her lip. They'd been dating for a year; since Al had gotten his human body back. So why was Ed acting like this?

Testing, she moved in towards Ed as if to kiss him. In response, he leaned back into the couch cushions. Winry cocked her head to the side.  
"See? You lean away whenever I get close to you. Why?" Ed flinched and looked away, stuttering.  
"I… well…"  
-"You're not even giving me a straight answer! Ed, what's going on?"  
-"It's nothing horrible, ok? You don't have to worry."  
-"Why can't you tell me?"  
-"It's not something I really wanna share."  
-"Well at least tell Al. Talk to _someone_ about it."

The doorbell rang, both teenagers turning their heads to the sound. Ed sighed in relief.  
"They're here. Let's go to dinner."  
Moving to the stairs, Ed called up. "Al, get down here! It's time to go!"  
"Coming Brother!" A cute, brunette fifteen year old bounced down the stairs, tugging at his jacket a little nervously.  
Winry smiled at the boy. "Hey Al. How's your day been?"  
Al gave a small shrug. "Ok. I was just reading. Nothing that exciting. Not like _you_ two," he added with a grin.  
Ed hit Al on the back of the head. "Shut up. Come on guys, let's go. Mustang and Hawkeye probably don't wanna be kept waiting."

After dinner, Al glared between Ed and Winry as everyone was walking home. The two were walking suspiciously far apart. Ed was at a distance from everyone else, whistling softly as he walked. Winry was practically stomping, quite a while behind Ed.  
"Hey guys, are you fighting?"  
-"No Al," both said at the same time. Al scowled.  
"Not a child anymore," he grumbled to himself. After his time spent in the armour, everyone kept forgetting he was fifteen and not ten. On top of that, Ed seemed hell bent on making sure Al had a childhood. Which was great and all, but it was kinda smothering sometimes. And, of course, no one ever told him anything.

Ed was lost in his thoughts, distracted. Winry wanted him to talk to someone. Preferably her, or Al at the very least. He admitted he probably should. But how could he? This wasn't exactly a normal situation for him to be in, and the consequences of telling anyone could be dire. Not just for himself, but for those he cared about. If he told Al or Winry what was going on… he could lose them. And he wasn't about to let that happen.  
Noticing Al's sombre mood, Ed threw him a quick smile. "I'm fine Al, don't worry." Al frowned in concern.  
"Are you sure? What's going on between you and Winry?"  
-"Nothing too big. We'll be ok."  
Al nodded, still worried. But Ed figured he'd get over it after a while. Once he figured this whole thing out, he'd tell Al. And maybe Al would understand. They were brothers, after all.

"Wait up." It was Riza Hawkeye. She had her gun out (where was she _keeping_ that thing?) and was gesturing to the ground in front of her. Running back to her, Ed saw something that made his heart skip a beat.  
Glinting in the pale moonlight was a puddle of blood.  
Roy Mustang pulled out his famous flame alchemy gloves, nodding to a trail of the sticky red substance that lead down an alleyway. Ed scowled.  
"Winry I'll see you at home, ok?"  
Winry looked like she was about to argue, before simply nodding. She kissed Ed quickly on the cheek- flinching slightly as he attempted to dodge- and left.  
"Al, you too."  
No response. Ed turned to AL and saw a strange look on his face. One he'd never seen before, and couldn't decipher. It almost looked like a mixture of sorrow, determination and fury.  
"I'm staying."  
-"Al-"  
-"I'm _staying_."  
Ed's brow creased a little at Al's unusually harsh words, but he nodded silently.

The four who remained behind, two adults and two teenage brothers, entered the alley.  
The trail of blood continued for a while, culminating in two dead bodies lying on the pavement. Roy checked the bodies out quickly.  
"They're both dead."  
-"How did they die?" Both Elric brothers asked the question simultaneously; as if they were both waiting for the same terrible answer. But that was impossible… Al didn't know what was going on with Ed.  
"Bloodloss, or so it seems."  
Al sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and suddenly seeming much older than his fifteen years. Ed just barely caught him murmuring under his breath, "Sheetz… you idiot. What've you done now?" Ed's gold eyes narrowed, then flicked away as they caught Al's silver ones. Hawkeye shuddered.  
"But Sir… the amount of blood we found was nowhere near enough to _kill_ someone."  
Roy nodded sombrely. "I agree. Maybe they were killed somewhere else, and then dragged here."  
He sighed heavily. "The paperwork for this is going to be hell."

Winry stood as the boys returned. "What was it? Some stray dog, or something?"  
Ed shook his head. "It was two people."  
Her eyes widened. "Ed… were they…?"  
Ed met her clear blue gaze, and nodded once. It didn't need to be spoken aloud.  
Winry put a hand to her mouth, gasping. She took Ed by the hand, and dragged him upstairs. Ed went with her, but looked distant, uninterested. Al frowned at Ed's obvious lack of affection.

What was going _on_ with those two? Winry seemed fine, she wanted Ed near her. But Ed just seemed not to care. That wasn't like him. Ed loved Winry, and had never done a very good job of hiding it. Al began to wonder if there was something else going on. After all, he'd seen similar physical traits in-  
Al's mobile phone began ringing, distracting him from his thoughts. Flipping it open, he smiled. Speak of the devil…  
"Hey," he answered. "What's up?" He paused as the person on the other end spoke.  
"Well actually, I had a couple of questions for you about that. I was wondering if you could help me out?"

"Ed, look at me," Winry pleaded softly. Ed turned to her, apology evident in his eyes. Whatever was making him so distant, he didn't like it. That much was certain. But then why do it? It was almost the same as when Ed was forced to tell Al no, he couldn't do this or that. He didn't want to say it, but he _had_ to.  
"Please, tell me what's going on. I want to help you." She knew the answer before he spoke it, could see it in his face.  
"Winry… There's nothing you can do. I know you want to help, and I appreciate that. But I can't tell you what's going on, ok?"  
She sighed, closing her eyes in defeat. "Alright, I'll let you have this one. But promise me that if something really happens, and I mean really bad, you'll talk to someone. Kay?"  
Ed nodded without hesitation. "Ok."

Despite her gut instinct to just let him rest, she felt a tug in her mind telling her to wake Ed up. The blonde's brow was furrowed, and he moaned slightly as he shifted positions. It was clear he was having a nightmare. She wasn't really surprised- he'd been having them for years. Ever since _that_ night. Sometimes, she worried a lot about Ed. He never told anyone about his problems, he pretended to be brave even at his own cost and his brother _always_ came first. Those were all admirable traits of course.  
But sometimes she wondered…. What would happen the day Ed couldn't save one of them? What would happen to Ed?

As Ed lay in bed that night, strange dreams crossed his mind. The people found lying on the pavement, the darkness that was threatening to swallow him whole…. The two intertwined and silently promised to take him down. As he thrashed harder and harder against the evil that held him in its grasp, he began to wonder when the last time in his had been that he _hadn't_ presented the world with a shield, a mask. When the last time was that he'd truly trusted somebody.  
It certainly wasn't the first time he'd ever woken up screaming. And it wouldn't be his last.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Ed yawned, playing with the pen in his hand tiredly. "So we still don't have any leads?"  
Hughes shook his head. "Nope. We sent a whole team of people out to the crime scene to check things out. All we have are the bodies, how they died and the location."  
-"How long is the space of time between when they were killed and when they were found?"  
Hughes smiled sadly. "Ed, even with our advanced technology we can't work _that_ one out. If we could, finding Barry the Chopper would've been a _lot_ easier."  
-"Yeah, and Winry and I wouldn't have had to get kidnapped," the blonde grumbled to himself. He groaned inwardly as he put a hand to his forehead. "Head's killing me."  
-"You get any sleep last night?" his old friend asked, a touch of concern reflected by the glasses shielding his green eyes.  
"Nah. Nightmares."  
-"We all get them."  
-"Not like I do."

Hughes had to admit Ed had a point. The 16 year old was always surrounded by soldiers, people who spent their lives working to make the country a better place. The job demanded a lot; emotionally and physically. After all, the military were the ones who had to turn up every time there was a murder, a rape, a terrorist attack or a war. There was a police force in Amestris, but they were far and few between. The military were the ones with the real power.  
Yet despite everything some of these men had been through (Hughes couldn't help but think of Mustang and the Ishbal Rebellion), none of the atrocities witnessed came anywhere near what the Elric brothers had experienced. Their mother dying at so young an age; the failed transmutation that resulted in the destruction of both their lives. And every single tragic, horrific, gory incident that had taken place since then. Murders, Chimeras, Homunculi and the Philosopher's Stone. The boys had been there through it all.

"Ed, how did Al get his human body back?"  
Ed jerked slightly; he hadn't been expecting the question. For a moment he was silent, and Hughes began to wonder if he would receive any answer.  
"Sloth… The Homunculus who was created from…. _Her_. When she died, it reversed the Equivalent Exchange."  
Hughes didn't have to stop and wonder who the Homunculus had represented. Ed's face said it all.  
"I'm sorry."  
Ed shook himself, seemingly gaining control of his thoughts.  
"Don't be. It wasn't her. It wasn't even human. Besides, I'm just glad that was all it took to get Al's body back. Better that than killing thousands of people for a Stone."  
Hughes sighed. Those boys…. Sometimes he worried about them. But they were strong, and he knew they could handle anything that came their way.  
"Ed, go home. I've got this."  
Golden eyes searched his. "You sure?"  
Hughes threw him a lazy grin. "Sure, go ahead. Say hi to Al and Winry for me."  
-"Sure."  
Yes, Hughes decided as he watched Ed leave, they would be ok.

Ed let his bangs hang in front of his face as he walked down the path. Overhead clouds threatened rain, but Ed felt like he had time to get back. At least, he _hoped_ so.  
'_Damn, hope it doesn't start before then. Makes my ports hurt like hell._'  
A sound reached him, and he froze. Sounded almost like…  
He waited a moment, listening intently, before shaking his head and continuing. If it was them, they certainly weren't after _him_. And he wasn't about to antagonise them any more than he had. Ed's head snapped up as he bumped into someone who had just turned the corner.  
"Al! What are you doing out here?"  
Al flushed. "Sorry Brother. I've been shopping." He held up the grocery bags as evidence.  
Ed's glare softened slightly, but refused to disappear entirely.  
"Geez Al, you scared the crap out of me."  
-"I didn't mean to." Ed realised that Al was starting to get nervous, and checked himself. He really needed to learn not to let his temper get the better of him. "It's ok. I was just startled is all. Hey, you here by yourself? Is Winry at home?"  
-"Yeah, she was working with a customer." Al matched his brother's pace as the two kept walking. He was burning inside; he wanted to find out what was going on with Ed. It was so strange of him not to tell Al something; they didn't keep secrets as a rule. Ed looked at Al suddenly, as though remembering something.

"Hey, it's your birthday next Tuesday!"  
Al was touched. "You remembered all this time?" Ed knew what Al was referring to. This would be Al's first birthday back in his body. They hadn't celebrated it during the years Al had been in the armour. After all, there wasn't much you could do for a seven foot suit of armour.  
"Course I remembered. How could I forget? Guess we're just lucky your body was ageing at the same rate as it would've normally, huh?"  
Al nodded. "We never knew whether I would have a ten year old body or a fourteen year old body when I came out. God, can you imagine if I was turning _eleven_ next Tuesday instead of fifteen?"  
Ed grimaced at the thought. "Yeah, let's be glad that _didn't_ happen." He grinned. "So, anything you want?"  
-"A girlfriend would be nice," Al muttered under his breath. Ed chuckled.  
"Still got eyes on that girl, huh?"  
-"_What_ girl?"

Ed stopped.  
Turning his head, he stared into the dark alleyway next to him. It wasn't the same alley the bodies had been found in the other day, but not far enough away for Ed to feel safe.  
"Al, go home."  
A stubborn expression crossed Al's face immediately. "No way!"  
-"_AL_," Ed hissed through his teeth, a little more harshly than he'd intended.  
"You can't tell me what to do. I'm staying."  
-"Al, just do what I say!"  
A menacing chuckle filled the air. Both Ed and Al's heads whipped around to face the sound.  
"Who's there?" Al called, trying to sound strong but allowing a small tinge of fear to enter his voice. Ed closed his eyes for a moment. '_He's going to get himself killed._'

"I am." The voice echoed. Al moved towards the alley and Ed, trying to make sure no one jumped down and slit his brother's throat, rushed after him.  
"Who are you?" Al bantered casually. Although he was being a complete idiot, Ed had to be proud of Al. He really was braver than most people thought.  
"I am me."  
-"Too scared to show yourself? Something you might not want me to see?"  
-"Well if you must," the voice drawled.  
A man materialised from the shadows. His silver hair made him appear to be in his later years of life. However, this fact was contradicted by the perfectly smooth skin that covered him. _Too_ smooth. And far, far too pale. The way he stood, the lilt to his voice, it all just seemed… out of place. Off. But it was his emerald eyes, and the _look_ within then, that gave it away.  
Ed and Al asked at the same time.  
"You're one of _them_, aren't you?"

Ed spun to face Al. "What are you talking about?"  
Al looked him dead in the eye. "Nothing that matters to you. Why, what are _you_ talking about?"  
-"None of your business!"  
-"Really boys, must you quarrel?"  
The brothers turned back to the man they had momentarily forgotten. Said man gazed at Al, _into_ Al, thoughtfully.  
"Tell me, how _do_ you know what I am?"  
Al shrugged. "Call it a lucky guess."  
-"_Extremely _lucky," the man commented. His eyes flickered to Ed briefly. "And yet you appear to have missed him." Ed flinched.  
Al's gaze darted between the two. "What do you mean?"  
The stranger chuckled. "You're good at spotting us from a distance. Complete strangers; easy for you. But you're not looking close enough to home."  
Al kept his eyes on the man in front of him as he spoke to his brother. "Ed, what is he talking about?"  
-"I'll explain later!"

Ed stepped in front of Al, blocking him from the view of the man. "You will _never_ have him." He spoke coldly, clearly. He could sense what the man wanted; and he was _not_ going to get it.  
"We'll see."  
-"What's your name?" Al questioned from behind Ed. Ed shot him a glare that clearly meant, _shut the fuck up_. Al ignored it.  
Amused, the man answered. "Cato. Does this please you?"  
Al nodded, swallowing tightly. Ed turned back, wondering why his younger brother had suddenly gone so quiet.  
Al was nervous; that much was clear. But not in fear of his life. He was just… fidgety. As if something was running through his mind that wasn't clearly seen from the outside. He seemed to be staring in one direction, but not willingly. Like he was fixated, and was _trying_ to avoid eye contact.  
And Ed knew what was going on.

He sent a glare toward Cato that would freeze hell itself.  
"Quit it. Or I can promise you now, you'll regret it."  
Cato broke the eye contact with Al and the younger boy fell to the ground in a heap from a sudden overbalance.  
"What do you want?" Ed asked, slowly grinding the words out. Cato shrugged.  
"I could smell a human. I get hungry. You understand. _Then_ I recognised one of our kind – must've been you – and that intrigued me. So, why do you keep a human around?"  
-"He's my _brother_ you bastard. Anything else you wanted before I pound your ass?"  
-"No, not really. I was just… curious. I'll be going now."  
-"Like _hell_ you will!"  
-"Brother, just let him go," Al called from where he still sat on the pavement.  
"Why should I?"  
-"Because he's not hurting anyone." Al took one look at the man and revised, "At this moment in time."  
-"Al, we let this guy go and he comes back later. This isn't like some random thug on the street. He will hunt you down and try to _kill_ you. Just trust me on this!"  
-"We _don't_ let him go and all his _friends_ come after us. You're not thinking straight!"  
Ed glared silently at Cato for a moment. The man said nothing, simply stood there with a bemused expression on his face. '_Doing his damn best to look innocent_,' Ed growled internally. But, he had to admit Al had a point. If he took this guy out now, who's to say the boys wouldn't wake up the next morning to find _twenty_ of these creeps standing over them? It just wasn't a smart risk to take.

"Fine. Go. But I better never see you again, you got that?"  
Cato smiled graciously. "Of course. We never met." With that, he melted into the shadows.  
Ed turned and offered his hand to his brother. Al's eyes widened slightly; this was the first physical contact Ed had allowed in a while. But he gratefully took the offer of help, standing.  
The boys looked at each other for a moment, both silently wondering what they should say to each other. If there was anything _to_ say. They both knew now that there had been lies between them – too many for their liking. Ed opened his mouth, as if to reassure Al, then closed it. What could he say? _I'm sorry I lied to you about this, but how dare you lie to me_? Al for his part didn't look angry or upset with Ed. Just… disappointed.  
After a moment, Al was the first to speak.  
"So… Now what do we do?"  
Ed sighed. "We need to talk, Al."


End file.
